The Achilles Heel Of Cryptoexchanges

Cryptocurrency has been in news lately. Bitcoin, a widely known cryptocurrency, came into view in 2009. With its explosion into the national and worldwide consciousness, experts, irrespective of their fields, are curious to know more of it.

You might have experienced a dramatic increase in value that cryptocurrencies have realized in 2017, and perhaps heard stories of people who had a wonderful experience with cryptocurrencies. However, there is also the other side of the picture you need to be aware of. Are cryptocurrency investments profitable? Are they safe? These questions constantly hit the minds of traders, investors, supporters, and opponents over the world. Though it has become a technological puzzle, technogeeks and criminals are on cryptocurrency bandwagon to figure out how it can benefit in the future. This post has examples and statistics that give a complete view of cryptocurrency and how it has turned into an Achilles heel for big enterprises.

Invest If You Understand

Bankers and experts across the globe are constantly alerting investors against investing in cryptocurrencies because they consider it nothing but a bubble that can burst at any point in time. Moreover, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, is sceptical about the value of bitcoins and says- Bitcoins are worse than tulip bulbs and they won’t end up successfully. It will destroy some of the investors. In contrast to it, owners and operators of bitcoin exchanges have something different to say. According to Sandeep Goenka, Co-Founder, Zebpay, says, “JP Morgan’s comment is completely personal as he might not have understood the evolution of bitcoins. Many people are successfully investing in bitcoins, for example, the former Citigroup CEO, Vikram Pandit, is investing in bitcoins satisfactorily.”

With contradictory views looming around, the problem is still there. If global bankers don’t get into cryptocurrencies, then retail experts might not have much of a chance in kind. So what is the solution to it? You can follow the idea of Warren Buffett—if you don’t understand it, don’t invest in it.

Security In Cryptocurrencies

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges is Binance based on trade volume worldwide, has remained the victim of security breaches.

Not only had hackers exploited its systems, but also managed to get hands-on those who had them IP-restricted. They used those accounts and asked for Viacoin in bulk.

Hackers wanted to fill Viacoin’s market up with buy orders, and that too resulted when the market got a leap from $64 million to $159 million in mins. Their pump and dump” scheme included holdings in Viacoin and the intent to inflate the price to sell it on another exchange.

Viacoin users knew they had lost their funds with nothing left behind to start again. Moreover, Binance halted all withdrawals during this attack.

After some time, in response to the attack, Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng said that all unsolicited trades have been under control while resuming deposit, trade, and withdrawal. He even claimed that the hackers had lost coins during the attack and the recovered coins will be donated to Binance Charity.

Regulatory Attention

Bitcoin was not purposely designed for regulation. Being a decentralized currency, it comes with a transparent ledger that anyone can explore, checking transactions on the network. The current scenario is quite similar to it. Since its arrival, governments did not give heed to it, and it is still not recognized as a form of currency.

Now, reactions have started to come out against it because of the fear

this digital money ingrains amongst financial institutions globally.

This has both pros and cons. Even though Bitcoin is one of the biggest cryptocurrencies for now, it is highly sensitive to manipulate and control.

2018 can be the year of some of the biggest attacks on cryptocurrencies than ever before, predicted by experts.

With a big amount of money is flowing in, governments have started paying attention to cryptocurrencies either to get a slice of the pie or eliminate them from the market completely.

The Terror Of ‘WannaCry’

WannaCry aka WanaCrypt0r trashed computers of major corporations in over 150 countries in May 2017. A feeling of terror swept across the world when a message”your files have been encrypted!” turned up on the attacked computers. Investors strongly opposed cryptocurrencies when hackers demanded “ransom” in Bitcoins to decrypt files. A ransom of about $300 in bitcoin is what every victim has to pay to retrieve files. As bitcoin allows users to make anonymous transactions while preserving their identity, it is the most preferred method to pay a ransom. This explains the sensitivity of the Bitcoin system, as it can crash during the attack, and let hackers to hold a grip over cyber attacks.

The Future Of Cryptocurrency

The future of cryptocurrency depends on the way it will transform itself as compared to regular currencies. I agree we don’t know what the final form of payment, transaction, smart contract will be but it is likely that the technology is going to stay. With the growing popularity of Bitcoin, central banks may accept it and even start to opt blockchain for their currencies. If a blockchain becomes the way of regulating money, there are many benefits that nations could reap like less corruption, control over inflation, less financial crime, and easier tax collection.